To The Moon
by MissTigerLilly
Summary: A young mutant, Tia, leads a life of crime and is wanted by the police. She befriends Peter (Quicksilver), letting him into her strange and reclusive world. Meanwhile, Charles Xavier seeks to move her into the Institute. What happens when her troubled past comes to haunt her, and it becomes clear she isn't suitable to live with others? Peter x OC romance. Some swearing.
1. Chapter 1: Handcuffs

**A/N: Setting- This is set after X-Men: Days of Future Past. I assume that after helping Charles, Peter stays in contact with, but mainly leads his own life. Also, obviously, mutants are a know thing, and, it's the late 70's!**

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><p>The old man's arms shook as he raised them above his head. A bead of sweat rolled down his forehead, down his nose and into his mouth. He nervously licked his lips.<p>

Tia shrugged her shoulders, cracking her neck to the left, and then the right, stepping closer to the counter as she did. She shifted her gun, holding it like she meant it to be fired.  
>"Alrighty pops, empty the register" she hissed, leaning in over the counter to begin grabbing cigarette packets from the wall. The old man watched her with confused eyes as she piled them onto the counter.<p>

"Hey" she said, trying to catch the old man's attention as he emptied cash next to the cigarettes.  
>"Hey. I'm talking to you" she growled. The man's head snapped in her direction, his watery eyes searching her face, settling upon her dark sunglasses.<br>"Do you have a security system here, alarms, something?" she whispered.  
>The man looked around nervously, "Yes".<br>"Good. So they haven't worked. You should get all this back in insurance then. You have insurance, right?"  
>The old man nodded his head.<br>"Good" she smiled, patting the man on his chest. He'd finished removing the notes from the register, there was only coins left.  
>"Don't worry, you keep the change" she said, gesturing at the loose change. The elderly man nodded, his whole body shook too.<p>

"Sir, I'm going to ask you a favour". She was facing the front of the shop, watching red and blue lights flash down the street.  
>"I want you to turn around".<br>"Wh-what?" the old man stuttered, his eyes searching her covered face.  
>"Do it now!" she screamed, leaning back over the counter and grasping the man's shirt collar.<br>"Do it now" she repeated, so close their noses practically touched. The old man nodded slowly, sobbing as she let go of his collar.

A cool gust of air whipped through the shop as the girl flung the shop door open and screeched,  
>"You can turn around now!". The old man stood, staring in utter confusion as the girl ran from his shop empty handed.<br>"I think you forgot something!" he called, before turning to look at the pile of cash and cigarettes on the counter. But they were gone.

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><p>Tia ran straight out of the convenience store, slamming into a tall, thin cop who immediately grasped her wrists.<br>"You're under arrest" he declared, before reading her rights and bending her over the hood of his police car, tugging her wrists back behind her and handcuffing her.  
>"Whaddaya reckon 'e looks like?" hummed a shorter, balding policeman.<br>"S'Time to find out" said the first man, ripping the sunglasses and balaclava straight off Tia's face and into an evidence bag.

"Why looky here, it's a lady" the bald cop cooed, waltzing over towards her, his hands on his hips. He sashayed towards her, his jaw slack as his eyes appraised her.  
>"I think it's time to call it in" the taller cop warned, opening the back door of the car and pushing Tia's head under and through.<p>

"Lemme help you with that" the balding cop purred, sliding his meaty hand across her thighs as he reached for the seat-belt. Tia struggled at her cuffs, trying to free her hands from behind her back.  
>"Don't touch me" cried Tia, causing the man to chuckle. A switch flicked in Tia's mind- no more playing nice.<p>

Tia blinked and the handcuffs were gone, leaving her wrists free. She swung her arms up, reaching around the confused cop's neck. She yanked his head down to whisper in his ear,  
>"Have a fun trip".<p>

She blinked a second time. Tia was suddenly alone on the street, the two policemen and their car were utterly gone. Tia scanned the buildings nearby, wondering if anyone saw. She figured that if anyone had, they didn't care, or didn't believe their eyes. Or maybe they did believe what they saw, and just accepted it. Rough neighbourhoods could be like that, people accepted strange things.

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><p>"What? What happened? Where are we?" screeched the balding cop, clutching at the car for dear life.<br>"I believe" said the other policeman, kicking his shoes through the white sand and patchy grass, "we're in the Mojave Desert"  
>"How? How- how-how are we here?" the bald man whispered, ducking into the car and curling his knees up to his chest.<br>"I dunno, but I've heard of this girl before, rumours she's a mutant. The guys at the station called her the Hangover." The tall man squinted into the horizon and sighed, "When you open your eyes, you don't know where you are, or how you got there".

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><p><strong>I hope you enjoyed this! More to come soon!<strong>

**Please REVIEW!**


	2. Chapter 2: Magic

**Thanks to everyone who's been reading!**

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><p>Tia swung the grocery basket in her hand, waltzing over to line up at the checkout. She shifted awkwardly from one foot to the other, waiting impatiently for the checkout chick to scan the mammoth pile of groceries that belonged to the man in front of her. His hair was silver, and Tia was very impressed by it. Usually men old enough to have hair that colour didn't have so much of it.<p>

Tia began stacking cans on the end of the conveyor belt, attempting to be subtle as she pushed the man's groceries' further towards the checkout girl, bunching them together. The grey haired man turned around to see who was shifting his groceries, and Tia was surprised to see he wasn't old, rather, he was young and quite handsome.  
>"I thought you were gonna be old" Tia couldn't help but blurt out, "y'know, because of your hair" she mumbled. The boy smiled at her.<p>

"Well" he replied, "judging by your hair, I'd say you were a Barbie, but that's not true" Tia ran her hand through her pale pink wig absentmindedly.  
>"It's a wig" she said, her tone hushed. She ducked her head low as she spoke.<br>"I know. But why?" said the boy matching her low tone and ducking down to her level.  
>"So people don't recognise me" she whispered.<br>"But who'd be looking for you?" he asked her, his voice full of concern and sympathy. Tia just smiled at him. He frowned in response.

"Peter!" a young girl's voice called. The silver haired boy turned back to his trolley.  
>"What? Are you bored? I could get you some Skittles?" Tia heard him ask, his voice quick and impatient.<br>"Okay" huffed the little girl.  
>Tia smirked as she reached her hand up to the shelf of Skittles sitting rear the conveyor belt, blinking her eyes, causing the candy to disappear.<br>The silver-haired boy turned around, his eyes searching the small shelves on the counter for Skittles.  
>"What?" he muttered to himself, "They were here just a second ago." Peter glanced over to the pink haired girl, who just shrugged as she piled cans unnecessarily high on the conveyor belt.<p>

"Actually" said Peter, reaching into one of the already purchased bags of shopping, "have one of these" he said to the young girl, pulling a pink iced cupcake out of it's plastic container.  
>Tia groaned. Seeing the cake had reminded her that she had stuck some muffins in the oven before she had gone to the shops.<br>The silver boy was practically vibrating with impatience as he watched the slow moving checkout-chick, and Tia was beginning to do the same.  
>"Screw this" Tia muttered, shifting uncomfortably in the line.<p>

"What's going on?" Peter blurted, turning around to meet Tia's eyes.  
>"I left something in the oven at my apartment" she muttered.<br>"Surely the time you've waited in line is worth more than making the whole trip home to save some cake or something?" he reasoned, although he looked as though he begged to differ.  
>"Peter" she said, meeting his wide innocent eyes, "when capable of having it all, why compromise?"<p>

Tia turned and ran towards the door of the supermarket, groceries in hand.  
>"Wait" Peter yelled, "aren't you gonna pay?" Tia was out of earshot, so didn't turn and answer him. As Peter turned back towards his sister, the shelf of skittles caught his eye. They were suddenly back in place.<p>

_Had they been there all along? How had he been unable to see them?_ Peter wondered, but quickly moved on. Everything in Peter's mind happened quickly.  
>Peter looked up and out the shop's front door, watching Tia run wildly through the car park. Strangely, her hand were now empty.<p>

"She must have dropped her shopping" Peter said, to no-one in particular. He scanned the path from the checkout, to the door and through the car park, yet he couldn't see any dropped groceries.  
>The pink-wigged girl's groceries seemed to have vanished.<br>Peter tuned back to his sister. She looked up at him with wide eyes as he ruffled her hair.  
>"I think she's magic" whispered the little girl. Peter frowned at her, wondering what she meant.<br>The girl in the pink wig led a very strange life, Peter was sure.

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><p><strong>Please REVIEW!<strong>


	3. Chapter 3: Perfume

**A/N: To answer the questions people asked in reviews:  
>Snow Shadow 17: You'll have to wait and find out about Tia's powers!<br>Chcocegg333: Yeah, the girl is meant to be his younger sister, who appeared briefly in the movie. I'm taking some creative licence and deciding to call her Stella. She's a mutant too, with the power to control plants (like Poison Ivy from Batman). **

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><p>Tia's ear pricked as she heard a knock at the door. She crawled out from the pile of laundry she was folding, and brushed the lonely odd socks off her jeans as she stood. Tia knew almost no-one, and had no idea who could be at the door. She supposed it was probably a salesman, or someone from a religious group. Tia pressed her eye to the peep hole in her door and saw a man outside with light brown hair, sitting in a wheel chair. Tia didn't recognise him, but figured he was relatively harmless.<p>

She swung the door open, greeting the man with a friendly smile.  
>"How can I help you?" she asked, feeling a sense of sympathy for the man's disability.<br>"Can I come in?" he asked, his blue eyes sparkling with confidence and charisma that defied his crippled appearance. Tia frowned at him.  
>"I don't think so" she cautioned as she placed her foot down on the front wheel of his chair, stopping him from moving forwards.<br>"I'd just like a few words with you. My name is Charles Xavier-"  
>"Are you a cop?" Tia snapped, narrowing her eyes and pushing her door until it was almost closed, only a sliver of light shining through.<br>"No. Why would I be a cop?" he asked in an incredulous tone.  
>"It's against the law to lie about not being a cop, right?" Tia shot, narrowing her eyes at the man's happy and friendly face.<br>"I honestly don't know", he confessed, shaking his head as he watched Tia. Her hostile eyes, watching him through the ajar door.  
>"You can come in", Tia decided as she opened her door, still very suspicious of Charles. You know what they say about men with two first names.<p>

Charles wheeled himself into Tia's apartment, his eyes bulging as he took in his surrounds. Every shelf, every bench top, every surface, including the floor, was piled with belongings. Jewels, perfumes, records, shoes, wine, dresses, books, jars of coins, rolls of notes, piles of cigarettes, cassette tapes, televisions, car keys, gold bricks. Tia swept her foot through the chaos, trying to clear a path for Charles's wheel chair.  
>"Sorry, I'm kind of like a crow, I collect shiny things" Tia apologised, acting the part of the humble hostess as she offered Charles a drink, which he though he ought to decline for his own safety. He doubted Tia knew the contents of her own fridge, let alone what was safe to consume.<p>

Tia pushed the items that covered her floor aside with her feet, clearing a space across from her lounge chair where Charles could sit. Tia carefully cradled a crystal bottle in her hands as she swept the rest of the treasure away.  
>"Why pick up that bottle, but kick the televisions aside?" asked Charles, trying to act unperturbed by the contents of her apartment.<br>"This was much more expensive than a television" Tia mused, fingering the gold bottle neck with the diamond inset.  
>"It's a perfume?" Charles asked, scanning her face and her mind simultaneously as she tiptoed through her possessions to find a safe place for the bottle.<br>"It's _the_ perfume" Tia smirked as she sprayed it onto her wrists, before setting it down amongst a plethora of similar crystal vials.

"Tia", Charles called in an attempt to catch her attention. Tia was easily distracted, she had poor social skills, as you would expect from someone who saw people so rarely. Tia looked up from the clump of necklaces she was detangling and whipped her head around.  
>"How do you know my name?" she demanded, marching over to Charles, towering over him as he sat in his wheelchair.<br>"Tia, I'm a mutant just like you. I have the power to read minds. I also know that your _perfume_ is the only thing you care about, because it's the only thing in this room you _actually_ purchased." Tia backed away from Charles as he explained. The irrational urge to hide under the couch popped into her head, but she squashed it down, not wanting to show him how scared she was.

"I run a school for gifted young people. Mutants, like you and me. A safe place where we can learn to master our gifts", he tried to reassure her. She looked down at him like he was scum.  
>"I don't need to learn to master anything. There's nothing <em>to<em> master. I'm not a mutant, I _hate _mutants" Tia sneered as she turned her back to him, trying to sound brave though her hands were beginning to shake.  
><em>"Tia"<em> Charles said, the word echoing in Tia's mind rather than around the room. Tia blocked her ears with her hands, crouching down and curling into foetal position in panic as Charles spoke in her mind.  
><em>"You need to be honest with yourself in order to make your life better. You are a powerful mutant with a wonderful gift. Let me help you learn to control it", <em>Charles offered.

Tia turned and attempted to give Charles a sardonic smile. It annoyed her immensely how he seemed to think she needed help and guidance. Tia had made her own decisions in life, and she wasn't going to let someone come in and mess with her mind.  
>"You want honesty?" Tia threatened, smirking as she stood, "Your jacket is stupid" she spat, unable to think of a witty insult, and saying the first thing that came into her mind.<br>Charles looked around awkwardly, wondering whether Tia was being serious or not.

"This one would be better" suggested Tia, holding up a dark leather jacket.  
>Charles smiled cautiously at Tia as she twirled the jacket over her head.<br>"Where's the jacket from?" Charles asked, "You didn't have it a second ago."  
>"No, someone else had it a second ago", Tia murmured dreamily. "It's still warm", she said, rubbing the soft lining of the jacket against her cheek as she met Charles's eyes, before tossing the jacket over to him.<p>

Charles looked at the eccentric young mutant with sad eyes. She had become strange in her solitude.  
>"Will you come visit the Institute? Please, as a favour to a friend?" he begged, wanting desperately to help Tia.<br>"We are most definitely _not_ friends. How about a favour from the stylist to her client?" Tia asked with a smile, twirling her toes through a pile of coins on the floor.  
>"Is being a stylist your <em>real <em>job? Do you even have a job?" Charles asked, his voice filled with concern.  
>"No, I don't have a job, Charles. I'm a crow. I just build my nest", she replied.<p>

Charles looked around Tia's cluttered apartment one last time.  
>"Thank you for your time, Tia. I look forward to seeing you at the Institute" said Charles, handing Tia a card with the address on it.<br>"Yeah. I'll be there" said Tia as she read the card. She stood up and began to make her way to the door to let Charles out of her apartment.  
>"No don't worry. You stay seated, I can manage" he assured her. Tia nodded, watching Charles weave through her apartment and towards the front door. She turned on the television before settling back into her chair. The television began to play news. Tia groaned, knowing she'd have to have get up and change the channel, but a story on the news caught her eye.<p>

Charles turned back as he reached the front door, hoping to catch Tia's eye to say a final farewell before he left, but she was transfixed on a news story. The television screen showed a Police sketch of a young blonde woman, who was described by the presenter as "potentially armed and extremely dangerous."  
>The presenter announced, <em>"The suspect is also possibly a mutant. Police reports suggest that the suspect has used super-human means to evade police multiple times, and has caused injury and extreme inconvenience to the police force on multiple occasions. Her suspected mutation has been nicknamed "The Hangover" by local Policemen, who say after an encounter with her they open their eyes and don't know where they are or how they got there. The suspect has resisted arrest on 6 separate occasions, and has therefore not yet been jailed or charged for the many burglaries and armed robberies she has been suspected of committing." <em>

The screen switched from the presenter's face to security footage of a robbery. A small person dressed in entirely denim, wearing a balaclava and sunglasses over their face, was shown holding a revolver near an elderly man's temple as he emptied the cash register. With their other hand, the burglar ripped cigarettes from the wall and piled them onto the counter. Tia glanced over to the mountain of cigarettes sitting on her coffee table. The presenter continued speaking,  
><em>"Locals believe that this spate of robberies is just the beginning of what they describe as, "The Mutant Menace", however authorities are assuring locals that this has been an isolated incident. Mutants in the local area have come out in support of the police, saying that everyone needs to face justice. Mutant activists have said that if the suspect is in fact a mutant, they do not support the way she uses her 'gifts' for nefarious means. Now it's back to Rob for the weather…"<em>

Tia jumped in her seat as the door slammed shut. She cringed, her breathing shallow and her heart racing. But it wasn't just because the noise startled her. She knew Charles had seen the television. He was trying to help mutants and meanwhile she was giving them a bad name.

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><p><strong>Thanks for reading!<br>PLEASE REVIEW!**


	4. Chapter 4: Frost

**Chocoegg333: Thanks for telling me. I've revised the comment at the top of Chapter 4. I've decided then that Pietro's little sister is a girl called Stella, who has the ability to control plants (like Poison Ivy in Batman). Thanks for reading!**

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><p>The bell for the end of the day rang, it's shrill cry echoing down the corridors and bringing a smile to students and teachers alike. Screeching children fled their classrooms and ran in all directions: to the playground, to their parent's waiting cars, to their near-by homes, to the candy shop. Tia ran down with the other children to the playground, climbing and sitting atop the turret of the plastic castle, her young friends hooting at her as she sung that she was the king.<p>

The sun began to set and all the other children left. One by one, their parents coming to pick them up, soothing their grazed knees and bruised elbows. They waved and called goodbye as they left Tia alone on the playground. She tumbled down the slide, her little feet carrying her in a circle around the silent playground. She didn't want to go home. Tia didn't understand why her parents were always hushed, why her father was rarely around, why the house was a place Tia never wanted to be.

She sat beneath a large tree covered in lush yellow flowers and looked up at the darkening sky, pretending the flowers were bright yellow stars. Tia lay back, falling into the cool grass as she stared at the sky, watching the silver moon hovering above her. It kept her company. Tia closed her eyes, imagining flying to the moon. Her feet on it's soft grey surface, she was sure there'd be a playground there too, just like the one at school. She imagined the colourful fort, looking out across the universe as it sat on the ridge of a moon crater, watching out for her, Tia's safe place.

Tia opened her eyes and rubbed them in disbelief as she took in the empty courtyard. Where was she? Tia looked up, there was the yellow tree, and higher still, there was the moon. Tia was shocked and confused. She knew she was still at school, but the playground was gone. Who had stolen it? Where had it gone? Tia ran across the grass, circling around the area where the slide used to be.  
>"I want it back. What did I do?", Tia wondered. Her eyes were blinking and fluttering as she began to cry. Everything good was leaving her. First her dad, now her precious playground. She closed her eyes and sobbed.<br>"Please moon", Tia begged, "never leave me."

Tia heard a metallic twang and opened her eyes in shock to see what had produced the noise. There in front of her was the playground, just as it had been before, except now it was covered in frost. The chilled metal poles pinged and cracked as they expanded in the heat. Tia shambled towards it, reaching out her hand to touch the frost-laced slide. She screeched as her fingers made contact with the metal, searing her fingertips with icy coldness. Tia jumped back, breathing quickly as she tried to understand. She just knew it was her fault. It must be her fault, she was the only one here.

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><p>Later that night, Tia sat on the couch with her head in her mother's lap, as her mother stroked her hair. The news crackled in the background, the anchor smiling into the camera as he swivelled his chair to face another camera.<br>_"In breaking news, a six-year-old boy, believed to Thomas Carr, was found dead today at St Anton's Primary School. An initial assessment has suggested the boy died of hypothermia and severe frostbite, even appearing to have been entirely frozen. Authorities can offer no explanation on how this occurred in the middle of summer. Police are urging witnesses to come forward so closure can be provided to the family, and the circumstances surrounding the death can be determined. Thomas was found curled up under the fort and wasn't discovered until his mother came to pick him up from school. She crawled underneath the fort to find him, at first thinking he had fallen asleep when he didn't respond to her calls…"_

Tia's eyes glazed over as she tried to process the news story.  
>"Isn't that your school, honey?" her mother exclaimed, excited to see a familiar location on the television, despite the gruesome story. She tucked Tia's hair behind her ear as tears rolled from Tia's eyes and she began to shake in her mother's lap.<br>"What, did you know him honey?" her mother crooned, pulling Tia into a hug. Tia shook her head, she hadn't recognised the name. He had been younger than her.  
>"I know it's sad for you to hear, honey" her mother said, trying to console Tia, "But imagine how the little boy's parents feel right now". Tia didn't want to imagine Thomas's parents. She didn't want to imagine anything ever again.<br>"I have- I have to, to say something to the police" Tia blubbered, her crying becoming hysterical wailing. Tia grabbed at her mother's hands as her mother patted her back.

"Honey, were you a witness?" asked her mother, her brows furrowing in concern as she sat up and took Tia's hands in her own.  
>"Did you see who froze, who <em>murdered, <em>that little boy?" Tia was crying too hard to nod her head. It had been her, hadn't it? But she hadn't seen the little boy, what had she seen? She didn't understand what had happened.  
>"Honey, this isn't your fault. Some twisted soul has stolen this little boy from school and murdered him, before hiding his body in a playground. You taking the blame won't bring him back. No-one can do that now", Tia's mother soothed, holding Tia close as she sobbed, slowly fading to stillness and silence.<br>"It wasn't your fault" her mother whispered, as she left to get Tia a glass of water. Tia shook her head. What her mother had said had been untrue.  
>Tia <em>knew<em> it was her fault.

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><p><strong>Thanks for reading, and PLEASE REVIEW!<strong>


	5. Chapter 5: Television

**A/N: Thanks to everyone who has read or reviewed or favourited this story! I'm glad you enjoying it.**

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><p>Tia strolled down the aisle of the store, walking her fingers along the wood panelling on a brand new television set. She flipped over the price tag that was wrapped around the antenna, and let out a low whistle. The television cost 600 dollars, it was shiny 23-inch Motorola, and the best there was. Tia closed her eyes and tried to imagine her apartment, and where a television like that would fit. She frowned and opened her eyes, letting them flitter over the array of shiny new screens. Not now. Tia decided she'd pick one later.<p>

She walked down the aisle, her eyes catching on a familiar silver-haired boy as he lifted the needle on a record player. She walked up behind him, going up on her tippy-toes to look over his shoulder, watching his pale hands moving the needle with precision.  
>"Helloo", Tia called into his ear. Peter whipped his head around with incredible speed. Tia cringed and felt bad for his neck. Surely he must get whiplash when he does that.<br>"How did the, umm, the cupcakes turn out?" Peter smiled, recognising Tia's pink wig from his trip to the grocery store a few days earlier.  
>"They were alright" Tia shrugged, "I didn't have any frosting ingredients, so they were kind of plain", Tia lamented, pulling her face into an exaggerated pout that made Peter laugh.<p>

Tia sighed inwardly. It felt strange to lie to the boy. Tia knew that with her gifts, she could've had enough ingredients to make frosting for an entire house, so why did she lie? Why try to normalise her life for the benefit of a stranger? Tia watched with a calculating expression as the boy laughed at her, she watched his twitchy movements and hurried ways and decided not to lie to him anymore.

"So" began Tia, a smile creeping onto her lips as she began circling around Peter, "are you looking to buy?"  
>"In my dreams" groaned Peter, rolling his eyes. Tia stopped moving, and carefully watched his face. Peter glanced away as he spoke. Tia could tell he was lying… he felt guilty.<br>"How about you? Are you gonna buy something?" Peter asked, spinning the beaters on an electric mixer as they shuffled through the store, side-by-side.  
>"Nope" said Tia with confidence, turning over the price tag on an item and glancing at the number next to the dollar sign.<br>"Why are you checking the prices then?"  
>"So I'll know how much I'm saving", Tia purred. Peter smiled, his shiny white teeth visible in the display of joy, yet his eyes betrayed him. He was unsure of her.<p>

"Well, the best exit is the front door. The back doors and the side door aren't even worth trying if you need to get out fast", he whispered, his lips lifted in a cheeky grin.  
>"Oh, and you'd know?" Tia laughed, turning to face him as they walked past a shelf of hair dryers.<br>Tia lifted a pink hairdryer and pointed it at Peter like it was a gun.  
>"What's your name?" she asked the silver-haired boy in the most menacing and manly voice she could muster, trying (and failing) to not laugh as she attempted to intimidate him.<p>

"Peter. What's yours?" Peter replied, unfazed by Tia's craziness.  
>Tia glanced at the ground. She liked her disguises, she liked to remain anonymous. She'd practically admitted to this boy that she was criminal and now she didn't want to tell him her real name.<br>"Margaret" Tia stated. Peter nodded. They continued walking along side-by-side, Peter twitching as his eyes flitted from one expensive item to the next. Tia walked smoothly, keeping her eyes down as she discreetly watched for cameras, casing the electronics store.

"I'm not worried about how I get out, you know", said Tia offhandedly, staring at her shoes, "It doesn't matter which door I take."  
>"What are you worried about then?" asked Peter as he twiddled the knobs on a giant speaker set.<br>"Too many cameras seeing my face", Tia whispered, her face very close Peter's so he could hear.  
>"Yeah?" he replied, a little confused.<br>"I'm practically a wanted woman now. Next thing you know, there'll be a price on my head", Tia confided.  
>"How do you know?" Peter gulped, taking a step back from Tia and beginning to wonder if she was completely crazy.<br>"I saw a news story about myself. All 'bout how I messed with some cops and stole some shit or something stupid like that" Tia explained, her voice becoming lower and lower as she spoke. "But I knew I was special when they said the cops had given me a nickname", Tia paused, "The Hangover". Peter nodded, smiling politely at Tia. She was fucking insane.

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><p>Peter stirred his straw in his almost-finished milkshake, creating a little whirlpool.<br>"She'll be happy at the Institute. And she'll be safe there too. There are lots of people just like her".  
>"I know" grumbled Peter, stirring his milkshake so fast that that it began to spit out the top of the cup.<br>"What's wrong then Peter?" asked Charles, placing his hand on Peter's to slow his movements. "You know Stella's lonely. My school is what's best for her".  
>"It's not that" huffed Peter, placing the abused milkshake back down onto the table.<br>"I was wondering if you could ask Wolverine to help me track someone. I'm kinda worried about her killing someone with her craziness."  
>"I haven't seen Wolverine at all in recent months, and I don't think he's the kind of person who'll be happy with us seeking him out. I don't think he'd be available to help you, sorry."<p>

"Oh, Okay", sighed Peter, a little upset, nodding and accepting he may never see the pink-wigged Margaret again.  
>"I could try tracking her using Cerebro", suggested Charles, trying to ease the disappointment on Peter's face.<br>"I don't know if she's a mutant. I mean, I think she is, but she could just be really, _really_ strange".  
>"I can track humans using Cerebro, it's just a little harder. But, what do you mean when you say she could just be very strange?"<br>"She's convinced she's in trouble with the police. She said she was a wanted woman. I dunno, she said the police called her 'The Hangover'. Seriously, what does that even mean?", Peter spluttered, twitching his legs under the table.  
>"It means" muttered Charles, "and I quote, '<em>when they open their eyes, they don't know where they are, or how they got there<em>".  
>"You know her?" Peter asked, his eyes lighting up with hope.<br>"Yes, and I know where she lives too" said Charles, watching Peter with wary eyes. "I'll tell you her address, but promise me Peter, you won't let her get you in trouble".

Peter smirked, as if to say, _"we both know I can get myself in, and out, of trouble". _Peter began to shuffle in his seat, dying to know her address, watching Charles watch him squirm.  
>"Peter, you don't understand. There's criminally inclined, and then there's criminally insane", Charles warned, and Peter knew exactly which one Charles though Margaret was.<br>"Margaret?" Charles frowned as he scanned through Peter's mind for memories of Tia, "her name's not Margaret".

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	6. Chapter 6: Coffee

**Thanks for reading, hope you enjoy!**

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><p>Tia ran her hands over the smooth satin of her dress. It was shimmery and dark, the most beautiful piece of clothing Tia had ever come across, but even <em>it <em>wasn't enough. Tia decided that she needed another accessory, something unique, something… outstanding. She imagined an emerald, large and deep green, sitting in an ornate silver sun, suspended on a long silver chain. She blinked her eyes, and the necklace flashed into existence around her neck. Perfect.

Tia didn't bother to lock the door to her apartment as she skipped down the front steps, onto the street and into the real world. Today was going to be the usual kind of day for Tia, a quick coffee, before people-watching in her own lonely world, as she considered the stunning items in expensive stores. She stepped smoothly into a cosy café, ordering a coffee with a brilliant smile, before sliding into a booth at the edge of the room. She straightened her wig and began reading a magazine, her eyes hungrily devouring the pages of striking dresses and jewellery, shoes and bags and perfumes.

"Excuse me" interrupted a man's voice, thin, watery, scared.  
>"Yes" purred Tia with a flirty smile, her sunglassed eyes meeting the man's pale blue one's.<br>"That necklace you're wearing looks a lot like my wife's", the old man stuttered, shuffling his feet as he spoke, "I think it was stolen sometime last night, you see, it's usually kept in a locked box and, well, the box was empty today." Tia gestured at the man to continue, her bored mind keen for any social interaction she encountered.  
>"It's our 65th anniversary, and, I don't want to intrude, I just, was wondering, did you buy it somewhere nearby? Did someone give it to you today? Could they have, by some chance, accidentally taken it from us?" The elderly man attempted a polite, tight-lipped smile. Tears beaded in his eyes, which he wiped away with his shaky liver-spotted hand.<p>

Tia could see the old man wasn't angry at the theft, he was simply heartbroken at the loss. She reached her hands up behind her neck, unclasping the chain and dropping the jewel into the man's palm. He looked up at her with disbelieving eyes.  
>"Take it back. My cousin gave it to me earlier today. He said it was a late birthday gift. I suppose he forgot to tell me who it was really from", Tia said, her voice confident and eyes bright as she lied through her teeth.<br>The man smiled at Tia and showered thanks upon her. It occurred to Tia that the old man could have been lying, much the same way Tia had, trying to guilt someone into giving him their jewellery.

Tia watched the old man, trying to asses if he had lied. He shuffled to the next table, pulling a tiny oak box out of his jacket pocket. He fumbled on the box's latch, tears dripping down his cheeks. He made no attempt to wipe them away.  
>Tia's name was called once her coffee was ready and she got up quietly and went to the counter. As she walked out the café's door, she glanced back at the old man.<p>

He poured the long chain into the box, and rested to pendant on top. He shut the oaken box and flicked the latch. His shaky hands traced over the golden lettering on top of the box, 'Margaret'.  
>"Happy anniversary, my love" he whispered, kissing the top of the box, "I can't wait to see you again". The old man reached into his breast pocket, pulling out a faded black and white portrait of a woman, a bright sun pendant hung around her neck. The old man placed a kiss upon the photograph too. Tears stung Tia's eyes and burnt her throat, tears of guilt, tears of sadness for the old man's loss.<p>

"_You stupid girl. What if you hadn't seen that man? He would never have gotten that necklace back. Stealing, you piece of shit. Never again. Never steal again. Never steal from a real person. Never never NEVER_", Tia moaned, stumbling blindly down the street. Tia reached out her hands to steady herself and leant her back against the side of a building, guilt from everything she had ever stolen rushing through her mind as she tried to breathe deeply. She imagined the sad, sad faces of all of the people from whom she had unwittingly taken their most beloved possessions. Every piece of jewellery she had ever teleported around her own neck. She had always assumed they came from jewellery stores, or the overflowing closets of trophy wives.

"Never, ever, again", Tia began to wail. If only jewellery was the most precious thing she had ever stolen.  
>Her knees buckled and she sank to the ground, her hands balling in her dress as she shook. She'd tried so hard to forget. She'd tried so hard, so hard to let it go.<br>"I stole that child's whole life", Tia whispered to the sky, her head tilted upwards and her eyes closed. She prayed that her beloved moon would forgive her for what she had done, all those years ago. She had never meant to send a child there to die.

Tia turned her head and looked down the street, shocked to see her own face staring back at her.  
><em>Have you seen this woman? Call Crime Stoppers or the local Police. She is considered armed and dangerous. Do not approach.<em>  
>Tia glanced around, checking there was no-one nearby. She ripped the poster off the wall, balling it up and stomping it into the gutter. She poured the rest of her steaming coffee over it, watching as the paper disintegrated into a clumpy coffee mess.<br>"Stupid poster", Tia muttered, "I'm not dangerous, I'm fucking deadly".

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><p><strong>Please REVIEW, and thanks for all the reviews so far!<strong>


	7. Chapter 7: Chocolate

Tia patted glitter along her cheekbones, and smoothed gloss onto her lips. She wanted desperately to escape her guilt and remorse, and figured that meeting people might help. Just because she was a mutant didn't mean she should be condemned to loneliness.

There came a knock at the door, and Tia was very surprised. Very few people came to her door, even fewer after 8pm.  
>Tia peered out the peep hole, pleasantly surprised to see Peter. She flung the apartment door open, excited by the <em>highly <em>unusual occurrence of a friend arriving.  
>"Hello!" she called, smiling ear to ear.<br>"Hi" Peter replied dubiously, his eyes drawn behind Tia to the messy treasure den that was her apartment. His eyes skimmed over the diamonds and crystal cut wine glasses, the fine china, the television sets. Tia turned around, seeing what Peter was seeing and feeling embarrassed.

"Wanna go out somewhere?" asked Tia, sliding out the door and shutting it quickly.  
>"Sure" Peter smiled. The spell that the diamonds had over him was broken when the door was closed. "What did you have in mind, Tia?"<p>

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><p>Peter and Tia ambled down the road to the ice-creamery, each ordering double scoops. They licked at their ice-cream greedily as they walked down the road, enjoying the cold desert on the unusually hot evening. Tia felt there was something missing, so focused her mind on the object and blinked her eyes.<br>"Chocolate sauce?" Tia offered.  
>"Sure", Peter replied gleefully, tipping the bottle upside down and letting oodles of sauce pour onto his ice-cream. He handed the sauce pack to Tia, who promptly teleported it out of her hand and back to her kitchen when Peter looked away.<br>Peter and Tia walked in companionable and relaxed silence, until Peter suddenly became stiff, turning slowly towards Tia.

"Tia, where did that chocolate sauce come from?" he asked her, his voice suspicious and slow (for him, at least).  
>"Just, the shop. You know the shop?" Tia laughed nervously, fiddling with her hair.<br>"Where's the chocolate sauce bottle now?" Peter interrogated, desperate to know what had happened. He was increasingly certain Tia was a mutant, and was desperate to find out if his suspicions were correct. Peter had forgotten to ask Charles if Tia was indeed a mutant, and was still wondering.  
>"I just, I, I chucked it in a bin on the way past" Tia mumbled, watching Peter's face fall into a guarded and doubtful expression.<p>

Tia was surprised, she thought they had an understanding. He knew she was a wanted criminal, and she knew he had some experience in that area himself. Obviously he had his ways, just as she had hers. She had even wondered if Peter was a mutant too- his silver hair was definitely outside the norm.

They walked in an awkward silence as Tia's brain ticked over.  
>"I have to ask you something" she said, her eyes wide and pleading. Peter nodded, wondering if she was about to ask his if he was a mutant, or if it was alright that she was a mutant, or something of the sort.<br>"Peter, how did you know where I live? And how did you know my name, I didn't tell you that."

Peter was taken aback. He had completely forgotten that it wasn't Tia who had invited him over, rather, he had invited himself.  
>"I got your address off a friends of mine. I told him about you, and he said he knew you too, and it all went from there", Peter explained. Tia frowned, she couldn't think of anyone she knew in the city apart from Peter.<br>"His name, my friend's name, is Charles. He said he visited you", Peter continued, his eyes searching Tia's face for any signs of recognition of the name.  
>Tia nodded her head, remembering the telepath who had visited her months before. She looked at Peter inquisitively and wondered how he knew Charles. Had Peter and Charles met for the same reason Tia and Charles had met?<br>"I promised him I'd make a visit to his house" Tia sighed, feeling a little guilty, "But I'm not sure I want to go yet. I don't think I'm ready".

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><p>Tia sat across from Peter in her cluttered apartment. His eyes flickered over her eccentric array of possessions and his feet twitched.<br>"Where does all this stuff come from?" Peter asked, gesturing with his eyes at the vast amount of junk around the apartment.  
>"I dunno, just, around the place" Tia replied, trying to stay ambiguous. She wasn't sure if Peter meant it literally, or if he knew she was a mutant and was asking about her mutation.<br>"Where does it go?"  
>"What do you mean?" Tia frowned. Peter mimed having a small object in his hand. He clenched his fist and mimed an explosion, staring in fake wonder at his empty palm. It could only really mean one thing- he knew she was a mutant with teleportation powers.<p>

"It goes where I want it to go", Tia answered, her voice clipped. She had never before told anyone about her mutation.  
>"Like?" asked Peter, desperately trying to get Tia to elaborate. He was fascinated.<br>"The moon, my house, the desert, a little further down the street" suggested Tia, watching Peter's eyes as he processed her words.  
>"You can't do that shit!" Peter exclaimed, horrified and confused as he imagined the moon filling up with random objects.<br>"Why?" asked Tia, her eyes wide and innocent.  
>"Because, it's just…" Peter struggled for words, "It's wrong".<p>

"What, and you're any better?" Tia smirked, watching Peter's eyes go wide. She was even more certain he was also a mutant.  
>"Look, at least I don't move stuff off the planet" Peter replied, his tone harsh and defensive.<br>"Hey, I wrote them a note" Tia replied flippantly, smirking as Peter floundered for words to explain how wrong it was.

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><p><strong>Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed this chapter, and<br>PLEASE REVIEW!**


	8. Chapter 8: Blood

**A/N: This chapter begins with the last paragraph from the previous chapter, to help with continuity.**

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><p>"What, and you're any better?" Tia smirked, watching Peter's eyes go wide. She was even more certain he was also a mutant.<br>"Look, at least I don't move stuff _off_ the planet" Peter replied, his tone harsh and defensive.  
>"Hey, I wrote them a note," Tia replied flippantly, smirking as Peter floundered for words to explain how wrong it was.<p>

Peter and Tia's eyes met, locked in a staring contest, a battle of wills. Who was going to be the one to break the silence? Peter glanced away.  
>"How does it work?"<br>"How does _what _work?" Tia quipped.  
>"How does <em>it <em>work" Peter hissed, once again meeting Tia's restless eyes. He watched her take a deep breath, preparing herself mentally to explain her gifts.

"I see an item, and I imagine where I want it to go, and BAM! It's where I want it." Peter nodded, he didn't look scared, so Tia continued.  
>"Or I think of an object, and I can teleport it from wherever it is, to where I am. But, I don't have to be at one end of it. I could transport the Eiffel Tower into Hong Kong, while I sit in New York. I suppose I just move stuff around", Tia babbled, more nervous the more she spoke.<p>

"What happens if the item you teleport doesn't actually exist?" asked Peter, his twitchy eyes wide with excitement at finally being certain Tia was a mutant. Tia gave him a confused look.  
>"I mean, you think of an object, and you teleport it to your location. What if the object you think of doesn't exist?"<p>

"I dunno, usually I imagine pretty ordinary stuff. You know, stuff I've seen in shops or seen people wearing", Tia replied as she considered what Peter was saying.  
>"Ok, think of something", Peter dared her.<br>"I'll get you a lion. For your birthday", she teased.  
>"But they<em> do<em> exist" Peter countered, "and it's my birthday today". Amazingly, he wasn't lying.  
>"Okay, I'll get you a lion with diamond scales instead of fur", suggested Tia, glancing at Peter as he nodded in agreement.<p>

Tia held the image in her mind, a glittering beast worthy of legend, and blinked.  
>The animal stood proud in front of Tia and Peter. It had the glistening outer skin of a translucent snake, it's powerful legs shimmered as the creature began to step forward. Peter and Tia stared in disbelief. The lion's dark eyes settled on Tia and Peter, and it crouched, beginning to slowly advance towards them.<p>

A soft creaking sound began to emanate from the lion's joints as it moved. The creature stopped in its tracks and pricked its ears at the high-pitched sound. It ducked it's head to listen to it's squeaky knees. Tia glanced at Peter. His eyes were wide and scared, but not of the lion. He felt as though misfortune was in the lion's near-future. The two mutants watched in horror as the lion's diamond scales began to dig in around it's joints, cutting deep into it's skin, ruby blood pouring down over it's legs, pooling on the floor. The lion took a step forwards, it's paws sliding in the sticky liquid.

It's back legs slid and gave way. The lion hit the tiled floor and shattered like glass, it's skin splitting and hot blood gushing out, pooling around Tia's feet in a sticky sludge as it began to quickly dry. The lion opened it's mouth, displaying it's perfectly curved and completely translucent fangs as it roared. Its jaw cracked and blood poured through its gossamer mane. It began to gurgle, chocking on its own blood. Its front legs collapsed and there it lay in a bloody heap. It spat and chocked and let out one feeble meow as its eyes glazed over. Its head dropped heavily to the floor and cracked in two- it no longer possessed the strength to support itself. Glittering gore and diamond scales scattered on the carpet as the creature ceased to move at all.

Peter gasped. The once majestic creature was devastated, it's perfect skin an unfit home for its own vital organs. Tia blinked, and the creature disappeared. All that was left of it was the sticky blood that coated her feet.  
>"That's not a hangover, that's a fucking high" Peter snapped.<p>

After a few frozen moments, Peter finally mustered the strength to move. He walked over to Tia, taking her by her shoulders and guiding her to the bathroom so she could wash her feet. One lonely tear slipped from her eye. Tia and Peter went back to the lounge room, curling up close so they could both fit onto Tia's favourite lounge chair.  
>"Where did you send it?" Peter whispered, not wanting to upset Tia further.<br>"The moon" Tia responded. Her voice was flat and emotionless.  
>"What?" Peter cried, "What happens when astronauts find it? They'll freak, they'll want to pull it apart, they'll think its alien!" Tia stared at the blank television screen in front of her.<br>"If they want to pull that poor thing apart, what do you think they'll want to do to the girl who made it?" she asked him very slowly, ensuring he understood the weight of every word.

"It's not like that. Tia, you're not an animal" Peter assured her, trying to turn her face so he could see it.  
>"And I'm not human either," Tia snarled, her eyes flashing with hatred as she spoke.<br>"Tia", Peter sighed, attempting to sooth her.  
>"Don't patronise me. Even after that mutant saved the president, everyone is still so afraid of them, of me."<p>

Tia searched Peter's dark eyes, they were wide and flickering around her face. _Us? _Tia wondered. _Afraid of us? Are you a mutant too, Peter? _Peter couldn't open his mouth, he couldn't answer the unspoken question that lingered in the air.  
>"Pick a side, Peter. We're in limbo. I don't want to die a thief. I want to die a legend." Tia held firm, attempting to hide her sadness with fearless bravado. She couldn't care less about her own death or picking a side. She had created a creature and watched it die. She wished she could take it all back. She was so tired of having power over life and death. She was tired of playing god.<p>

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><p><strong>Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed!<strong>

**PLEASE REVIEW!**


	9. Chapter 9: Birthday

"I don't think you should let them meet her", said Peter, shaking his head.  
>"Why?" asked Charles as he fished through Peter's mind, wading through images of blood, pouring through the carpet, staining Tia's feet. There was also a strange crystal lion. It must all be one of his dreams.<br>"She's not nice", Peter said bluntly.  
>"Why do you spend time with her?" Charles chuckled, wondering if Peter could possibly articulate everything that swam around his head.<p>

"Tia's not mean, she's just not _nice_, and she's a little intense. I don't think she'd gel with the other kids", Peter tried to explain, "and you know she'll get no sympathy, they're all younger than her too."  
>"How old is she?" Charles asked, intrigued to hear what Peter thought.<br>"I'd say, maybe, 17?", Peter both asked and answered. Charles neither confirmed nor denied.  
>"She's probably just unusual because she has so few friends and sees people so rarely. She just needs to be re-socialized. She needs that chance." Charles said firmly. Peter sighed, he decided that Charles was probably right. But then again, wasn't he always?<p>

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><p>Tia knocked on the heavy wooden door, her heart racing as she waited for someone to answer. She glanced behind her, watching Peter unloading the car and handing a small suitcase to Stella, his younger sister. Peter looked up, and Tia smiled nervously at him, to which he responded with a wide, cheeky grin. Tia turned and just about peed her pants when the squeaky wooden door swung open to reveal the smiling face of someone Peter referred to as 'Hank'.<p>

"It's good to see you all", said Hank in his usual awkward way. Tia smiled up at Hank briefly, but ignored the following conversation in which Hank and Peter exchanged small-talk. Her eyes had wandered to the opulent interior of the mansion, its grand furnishings, luxurious marble floors and sweeping staircases. Tia snaked past Hank and inside the door, ignoring Pete's call of, "What are you doing, Tia?"

She shuffled her feet along the ground, enjoying the coolness of the tile, and mentally cataloguing everything in the room. But the item she kept coming back to was the grand piano, a shiny, lacquered instrument sitting in the centre of the room. Tia tilted her head as she sized it up. She'd been quite a good piano player as a child, she'd taken lessons and had always practiced every afternoon, like all good girls should. _Will it fit in my apartment? _The short answer was no. A grand piano was _so _not going to fit in her lounge, but she couldn't stop staring at it. She began to flex her mind, awakening her mutation. She was fixated, she couldn't let it go.

"TIA!", Peter yelled. He'd been calling her name consistently for a few minutes now, but she'd completely failed to notice.  
>"Yes?" replied Tia, her head whipping around, her thoughts confused. She was still thinking about the piano, but now she was looking somewhere different. She supposed it had been inevitable.<p>

Tia blinked, as everyone does.  
>In a flash of dark wood and incredible noise, the piano appeared in front of Tia, right in the middle of the circle of Peter, Hank and Stella, and herself. Tia was lucky it hadn't landed on any of them. Stella screamed at the sight, covering her ears with her fluffy hair to try to block the noise. Hank's eyes widened, not understanding what had happened, but Peter turned straight to Tia.<br>"Why did you do that?" he growled. Tia sucked on her bottom lip. She didn't have an answer, except,  
>"Oops?"<br>Peter frowned at her. He knew it hadn't been deliberate, it was just embarrassing. He couldn't even begin to imagine how embarrassing it was for Tia.

As the small group of them walked towards the dining hall to meet some of the other students, Tia kept her head low. Her eyes watered. Sometimes she wished she wasn't a mutant. She wouldn't even wish her own mutation on her worst enemy.

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><p>"I'm so glad you all made it today", Charles began, "Hello, Tia. It's good to see you again". Tia gave Charles weak smile with her watery eyes. Charles had already scanned her mind and knew of the piano incident.<br>"Are you going to put the piano back, or will I?" asked Charles, causing Tia to stare at him with wide and horrified eyes.  
>"How did you know?" she asked, before remembering the great crashing noise the piano had made as it moved. Maybe, it had been quite obvious.<br>"Telepath, remember?"  
>Tia nodded. Charles smiled kindly at Tia, "I was only joking", he said, "I'll make Hank move it".<br>Tia laughed a little. Tia was one of the few people that Charles had ever met who hadn't ever been scared by his telepathy. Usually everyone, even other mutants, sought reassurance that he wouldn't delve deep into their thoughts, but Tia had never asked. She wasn't' even worried by the thought of it. There wasn't room for more fear in her life- she was already so afraid of herself.

Tia smiled at the group of children as they swarmed around Stella. They were all around Stella's age, a few years younger than her and Peter. The group of youngsters swarmed after Hank as he led Stella to her new room, with Peter in tow, trying to look calm as he began to fully realise the fact he would no longer have his beloved sister with him all the time, he could no longer protect her.

"Did you do anything nice for Peter's birthday?" Charles asked as Peter left the room. Tia flinched a little and remembered the lion she had attempted to give as Peter's birthday present.  
>"I was planning on having a little party here", Tia replied calmly.<br>Charles raised his eyebrows, but said nothing. The piano was still on his mind as he wondered where Tia would be getting a cake from.  
>"Please, just… pay the bakery back later", said Charles.<br>"I always do", said Tia, trying to give her most sincere smile, which was met by Charles with a scowl. _I'm a liar, and he knows it._

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><p>Tia formed an image in her mind, a fluffy round sponge cake with jam and cream between layers, of which there would be four. All coated in chocolate- no, blue- no, chocolate icing, chocolate flakes, Peter's name piped on it in blue, blue swirls, strawberries, silver glittery candles, a true spectacle of a cake. The type only found in the best bakeries. The cake flashed into existence and Tia couldn't help but smile. It was truly the best cake ever.<p>

Tia pushed the kitchen door open with her hip as she walked into the dining room. She smiled at the group in front of her, Charles, Hank, Peter, Stella, and about 10 other children. And she began to sing…  
>"<em>Happy birthday to you<em>", and soon everybody had joined in, "_Happy birthday to you, Happy birthday dear Peter, Happy birthday to yooou!_"

"_Hip hip_…"  
>"HOORAY!" the children chorused.<br>"_Hip hip_…"  
>"HOORAY!"<br>"_Hip hip_…"  
>"HOORAAAAY!"<p>

Everyone cheered as Peter blew out the candles. His wide smile split his face in half, he was so happy that someone had remembered his birthday. He felt like he really had family here at the Institute.

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><p><strong>More chapters coming very soon (I've done quite a bit of writing!)<br>I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and as usual…  
>PLEASE REVIEW!<strong>


	10. Chapter 10: Cake

**A/N: There's some swearing in this chapter.**

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><p>Tia cut Peter's birthday cake and dished it out onto paper plates, serving a slice to everyone seated at the table. The younger children fought over who got the first few slices, before everyone settled down into their chairs. The table became very quiet and contented as everyone began to eat. Tia sat back for a moment and looked over the table. She was feeling quite proud of her efforts.<p>

"I think it's called polenta", whispered a little girl. Tia couldn't help but overhear her.  
>"It tastes like sand. Why would you put it in a birthday cake?" replied a little boy, clearly annoyed at the anomaly in his cakey confection. Tia cautiously ate a spoonful of her own cake. Now that she thought about it, it <em>was <em>a little gritty. How hadn't she noticed before?

"Ouch", the cry came from across the table. Everyone's head shot upwards, distracted from their food.  
>"What the hell?", a young girl called as she fished around her mouth and pulled out a small solid lump. She rubbed the sore spot on her jaw from biting down on it.<br>"Why was it in the cake?" she exclaimed to no one in particular, "What is this, concrete? Was this cake made in a garage?"  
>Tia's heart sank a little. The cake clearly wasn't as perfect as she had initially thought. She looked down at her own cake and noticed it was looking a little off-colour. Tia could have sworn it looked like a perfectly normal sponge cake only a second before.<p>

Tia glanced across the table to the remainder of the unsliced cake. It's insides had turned blotchy, as though it were riddled with mould, and the icing had begun to dry and flake away from the sides of the cake. Tia felt sick, but not from the putrid dessert. She knew this wasn't what normally happened to a cake.

"Eeeew! Where is this from? Someone needs to complain to the bakery, this cake is awful!" screeched a little girl. Tia grimaced at the children's voices. She wished they would stop being so loud about it.  
>At this point, Tia knew Charles was looking over at her, but she couldn't meet his eyes. She didn't need too, she knew he would have read her mind by now. He knew what she'd done.<br>"Who even bought this cake?" called a little boy. Someone pointed at Tia in response to his question.  
>"Where's this from? It is like, poisoned or something?" he sneered in his childish way.<p>

"Yeah" a chorus of children's voices chimed in, shouting various version of, "Where's this from? What's wrong with it? How could you let this happen?"  
>"WHAT'S WRONG WITH THE CAKE? HOW COULD YOU LET THIS HAPPEN?", they cried, almost in unison.<br>Tia looked over to Peter.  
>"I'm sorry. I just wanted the perfect cake. I had this image in my mind, I didn't- I didn't know if it really existed", Tia's eyes slid over to the remainder of the cake, which was slowly melting into a fetid pool of mush, "Or if I'd just imagined the ultimate cake". Tia's heart was melting in much the same way as the cake. She wondered if the cake they had already consumed was doing the same in their stomachs. She wondered if they'd all die from this.<p>

Peter gave a confused look as he struggled to process what Tia meant.  
>And then he remembered the lion.<br>Peter remembered how it had ended when Tia had last 'teleported' something that didn't exist. He glanced over to the unsliced remainder of the cake. It had disintegrated into a squirming heap of mustard-yellow slime upon the serving plate. A young girl at the end of the table hurled at the sight and smell of it. Her vomit had a similar appearance to the melted cake.  
><em>Well, no we know what happened to the cake we ate, <em>Tia thought to herself.

The children were becoming hysterical. Charles sat back calmly, and motioned for Hank to do the same. Until Tia asked for his help, Charles wasn't going to save her. He watched as she avoided any eye-contact with him. He wondered how this would end.  
>"It's alright, everyone" Peter called over the top of the noise, "We've made a bit of a mistake with the cake-" Peter paused as a child vomited all over his shoes, "but it's going to be alright".<p>

The children turned to Tia, they knew it was her who had brought the cake.  
>"Why did you do this to the cake?" cried a little girl, her throat scratchy and her voice raspy from being sick. Tia's eyes bulged at the little girl, her face was red and splotchy from crying, and Tia knew it was her fault.<br>"You know, we could have gotten really sick. Someone could have died. Do you want the death of a child on your hands? Hmmmm? You wanna kill a kid?" an older girl asked Tia in a matter-of-fact tone.

Tia's head spun. She was queasy with guilt. _I don't want to kill anyone. I never wanted to kill a child. I'm sorry. _  
>"Yeah", joined in another girl, "We could have died, in fact, we might <em>still <em>die of food-poisoning!"  
>Tia shook her head. All the talk of death made her mind race back to that fateful day when she was the same age that the youngest of the children at the mansion were now. That poor little boy. He was even younger. <em>I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I never wanted to hurt anyone. <em>

"Why would you do that?" the children chanted.  
>"Attempted murder!" they all seemed to call. Tia had never had a panic-attack, but she was pretty sure this was how one would feel. Her head was spinning, she couldn't breathe, they were all blaming her. And they were right, she was a killer, she should have been more careful. <em>Stop it! <em>  
>The children were all screaming at her, blaming her, it was all her fault.<p>

They accused her of trying to hurt them, she covered her ears with her hands. _But I didn't mean to hurt anyone!  
><em>She wondered if any of the children were telepaths. Could they possibly know she had once killed a little boy?  
>She watched as they silently screamed and gestured to the putrid cake, to themselves, to Charles, back to themselves, then the cake, then to a little boy heaving on the ground. Tia watched it all from her own private underwater bubble of quiet, thanks to her blocked ears. But he knew she couldn't put it off forever. She'd have to face the blame soon. The little boy who had been vomiting collapsed into his seat and closed his eyes, exhausted beyond belief. The children became a little crazed- even though the boy was still breathing, they seemed to believe he was dead.<p>

"How does it feel to kill a little boy?" a small child whispered into Tia's ear only seconds after she had removed her hands from them. Tia's heart almost stopped.  
>"Why would you want to kill a child?" Tia wished she could escape the children's accusations.<br>"Do you think you're going to get away with this?"  
>"Did you mean to do this to us?" <em>No, <em>Tia thought to herself, _I never meant to hurt a child, I never meant to hurt him._

Tia couldn't take it anymore. Her whole body was twitching. They were pushing all of her buttons at once and they didn't even know her. She focused on the cake in an attempt to clear her mind. It's mud-like consistency bubbled over the edge of the plate and spilt down onto the table, pooling on the lacy table cloth. This was all her fault.

"You tried to kill me, I'm just a little kid", one of the children called out. Tia wished they'd just stop it all.  
>"Why did you do this?" a small boy asked. Tia turned to look at him. He had pale flushed cheeks and dark hair, just like the other little boy had. The little boy she'd killed. <em>Why did you do this? <em>That's exactly what he would want to ask her. Tia felt like the children knew her secret. They were teasing her with it, accusing her. _I'm sorry. _

_I'm sorry._

"I'M SORRY", Tia screamed at the top of her lungs, silencing the room. "I'm sorry I killed him. I fucking _murdered_ him and I never confessed." Tia breathed in deeply, the children sank below the table in fear. Why were they cowering? This was what they had wanted. They were the ones who had pushed her. Years and years of guilt were bubbling to the surface.

"Wanna know why I'm a criminal, kids? Huh? Why I steal? Why I mess with the police? You want to KNOW?" Tia's questions were answered with dead silence.  
>"I hope maybe someday they'll catch me, and lock me up. I'll <em>deserve <em>it. But you know what? The only crime I'm truly sorry for will be the only crime I never tried to commit. And I can never own up for that one. I mean, even I can't bring Tommy back now", Tia cried. She leant forward and braced herself against the table with her arms as she took a few deep breaths.

"I'm sorry."

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><p><strong>I hope you liked this chapter. A little bit of drama.<strong>

*****PLEASE REVIEW!*****


	11. Chapter 11: Running

**A/N: Thank you so much to everyone who has read this story so far!**

**Special thanks to everyone who has reviewed, favourite or followed this story! It's great to know people are enjoying it as much as I am!**

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><p>The room was so quiet. Tia could hear the children breathing. Her own heartbeat was louder still. She stared at her hands, flat and braced on the table, anywhere but the eyes of the other people seated around it. <em>Well, now you know, <em>Tia thought to herself.  
>"Now you all. Fucking. Know." Tia yelled. She didn't know how to get out of this situation. Charles might call the cops. Peter might never want to speak to her again.<p>

Tia tried to calm herself, to stop the whirlwind of panicked thoughts tearing through her head. She was caught in a loop, thinking about the mansion, the stupid children inside of it, Peter, Charles, and back to the mansion, then to the evil, snarky, cruel, children it contained. Those stupid, little children poking at her mind. _Stop, get out of my head! _Tia's fingers twitched. She was thinking about everything, she simply couldn't break out of it all. Her mind was closing in on itself, the edges becoming fuzzy.

Tia attempted to focus her thoughts on her _happy place, _her safe place, to try to slow her hind. She let her thoughts float upwards, she daydreamed about the moon. But the previous loop of thoughts still raced through her mind. _No, I'm thinking peaceful thoughts, _she told herself as her thoughts jumped back to the snarky children. She tried to think only of the moon. But the other thoughts kept coming, faster, and faster.

She could feel it happening, all her thoughts and anger joining into one conglomerate of mutant disaster. Her thoughts weaving into a nightmare of her own making, the moon and the mansion melting together in her mind. _Stop it, stop thinking, calm your mind! _She didn't want the mansion on the moon. She didn't want all the children inside it (no matter how cruel they were), to suffocate and freeze to death.

_NO, NOOO! CALM YOUR MIND! _Tia instructed herself, but it was no use. Her eyes were screwed shut. She knew she wouldn't blink, but that wasn't what controlled her mutation. No, she only blinked out of habit. It was a way for Tia to pretend it wasn't her fault, her eyes were always closed when things miraculously disappeared or appeared.

She didn't know how to stop it all from happening.

Tia's eyes flew open in panic, and she quickly focused her thoughts on the first object her eyes alighted upon- the heavy oaken table she was leaning against.

Tia wondered what you would have seen if you had paused time in that split second. The table was gone, but for a moment, all the cutlery and plates would have floated in place. There was a moment of peace before the inevitable chaos of gravity.

Porcelain hit the tiled floor with a tremendous crash as it shattered around their feet. The metallic clink of cutlery banging upon the porcelain shards, and then the wet slurp of the rotten cake hitting the ground sent the children into a frenzy of screaming. Tia lurched forwards, no longer having the table to support her, and fell to her knees.

She felt something cold seeping into her skin, dampening her jeans. She looked down. Orange juice. The screaming, cake-covered children were escorted upstairs by Hank. Tears stained their rosy faces as they stumbled and scurried away from the smashed plates and glasses. Peter didn't even turn his head as Stella was escorted away. He stayed, sitting on his seat though the table was long gone.

Tia heard Peter take a shaky breath, as though he were preparing to say something.  
>"What ha-" Tia stood and ran as Peter began to talk. Faster than she had ever moved before in her life. She didn't want to know what Peter had to say. She had only ever let a few people know her secret, and look where that had gotten her. Once again, she needed to escape. No history, no family. That's the only way she could live. No one could possibly want to be around her once they knew the enormity of what she had done. She was a murderer. She caused so much grief for everyone around her, and strangers too. She was a kleptomaniac of extreme proportions. She was an addict. She needed treatment.<p>

Tia stumbled a little as she bounded down the steps at the entrance to the opulent home, then sprinted across the lawn and towards the gate.  
>"Wait, Tia!" she heard Peter call. She turned around, her chest heaving from running so fast. He was standing at the front door to the mansion, the heavy oaken door upon which Tia had knocked not so long ago. If only she could go back to then and live the day over.<p>

Peter began to jog towards her.  
>"Don't leave, Tia. Wait!" he called as he ran.<br>"Don't come near me", Tia sobbed, stumbling backwards, away from Peter. "Don't follow me. Just fucking leave me alone" she cried. Peter kept up with his slow jog, but didn't respond to Tia.  
>"I'll send you to the moon too, I'll do it. I will fucking kill you, Peter! Come any closer, and- and I will! Don't say I didn't warn you!" Tia screeched.<p>

Peter stopped running towards Tia, and Tia's heart dropped from her chest. Despite all her threats, she had loved the fact that Peter still wanted her around. But she'd gone too far this time. Clearly, death threats weren't a huge turn on for a guy. Tia stood still too. She met Peter's eyes. She wanted him to come closer, but she wasn't going to be the one to make it happen. She had lost too much by being the one to put themselves on the line. This time, she'd wait for Peter to do the same.

Peter's eyes were a little scared. He looked up at Tia, all the way across the lawn, and he bit his lip.  
>Everything was a blur, and then suddenly he was there. His whole body wrapped around Tia's, warm and real. Despite the fact she was covered in orange juice, and also, the fact she was a murderer. Actually, the murderer part was probably a bigger concern than the orange juice.<p>

Tia gasped in shock.  
>"Oh my god", she whispered. She had not expected that. She leant against Peter. <em>Peter's a mutant too,<em> Tia though. _He understands. He's like me. _  
>Tia and Peter stood together and swayed back and forth a little in each other arms, a little like they were dancing. Or perhaps like they were totally insane.<p>

"You're very close", Tia murmured into Peter's shoulder.  
>"Yeah", he replied, unsure what else to say.<br>"I wouldn't even need to focus on you, I'd just need to think of a location and… poof!" said Tia in an airy and far-away voice.  
>Peter ignored the almost menacing comment by Tia.<br>"Why not go somewhere yourself?" Peter asked.

Tia didn't reply.  
>"Why not?" Peter asked again.<br>"I can't", Tia whispered, so faintly, Peter wasn't sure he'd heard correctly.  
>"What was that?"<br>"I can teleport every single thing in the universe, real or otherwise, but not me." Tia said, her words clipped.

Peter held her close.  
>"Oh", he replied. Tia continued talking.<br>"It's more than teleportation, I literally move atoms, placing structures in different parts of the universe. Like the Chocolate television in _Willy Wonka_, but not tiny. That's why I can make stuff that doesn't exist. It's all just atoms." Tia paused for a little. "I could teleport myself, but I'd have to move the entire world around me."

"You could do that?" asked Peter, truly amazed. Tia ignored his question.  
>"Sometimes I wonder if I could teleport the Earth away, literally, just the rocky centre. Leave the oceans, trees, cities, people and all that stuff. Watch it all float in the atmosphere, before gravity kicked in and it all went falling inwards, crashing together."<br>"Please don't", was the only appropriate response Peter could think of as he hugged Tia tighter to his chest.  
>"I won't, I promise".<p>

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><p><strong>AN: Yay! The madness continues. I hope you liked this chapter and…  
>PLEASE REVIEW!<strong>


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